The Conservative government’s rejection of a proposed independent agency to organize Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017 has a leading opposition critic accusing Heritage Minister James Moore of planning a “partisan political spectacle” to mark the anniversary.

Moore’s formal response this week to recent anniversary recommendations of the federal heritage committee — which had proposed the creation of a non-partisan, arm’s-length body to oversee the sesquicentennial — highlighted the government’s plan to lead organizing efforts itself, but also included a commitment to “keeping the planning process transparent.”

That prompted a sharp reaction from the NDP’s deputy heritage critic Andrew Cash, who pointed to Moore’s controversial, out-of-the-blue announcement last fall that the Canadian Museum of Civilization would be revamped and renamed the Canadian Museum of History as a signature national project for the 150th anniversary of Confederation.

“In this political climate,” said Cash, “where the Conservatives are anything but transparent, how can you take the minister’s words at face value?”

Moore has explained publicly that he decided to kickstart the makeover of Canada’s main history museum — located in Gatineau, Que., across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill — during a motorcycle trip that led him to a small museum in British Columbia exhibiting artifacts and stories about the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.

“Canada’s 150th birthday will be a time for Canadians to celebrate and reflect on our rich culture and history,” Jessica Fletcher, Moore’s communications director, told Postmedia News on Thursday. “Unlike the NDP, we prefer to hear directly from Canadians and get their views on what are the defining moments of our history. Public consultations on Canada’s 150th will begin soon.”

The proposed Canadian Museum of History is intended to become the hub of a vast artifact-sharing network among small and large museums across the country. Moore also stated in his response to the heritage committee’s report on the 150th anniversary that the transformed Gatineau institution will highlight “the national achievements and accomplishments that have shaped our great country.”

The government “recognizes the importance of holding inclusive consultations, keeping the planning process transparent, creating legacies, and encouraging participation,” Moore added in his official response to the committee. “Our government also understands the value of making the 150th anniversary of Confederation a pan-Canadian celebration that will resonate with our diverse population.”

Moore previously disclosed to Postmedia News that the Department of Canadian Heritage is organizing a cross-Canada series of public consultations early this year aimed at soliciting ideas about how to mark the 2017 anniversary and generating grassroots excitement around the milestone.

He has also made clear that a key focus of planned 150 “legacies” will be an infrastructure fund to support the renovation, replacement or expansion of aging arenas, libraries and other public buildings erected across Canada in 1967 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Confederation.

But the government’s 150 planning and the history museum makeover are unfolding at the same time that contentious federal cuts have been made to services at Library and Archives Canada, Parks Canada and elsewhere in the realm of history and heritage.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers recently launched a “Canada’s Past Matters” campaign, condemning the Conservative government’s handling of the history file, including the “ill-conceived and potentially-destructive” rebranding of the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

Cash said the framing of the planned Canadian Museum of History as the country’s showcase 150 project came as a complete shock to the federal heritage committee after months of consultations on the 2017 anniversary — including testimony from Moore himself.

“They made the announcement and the funding, and then after all that they table legislation, and then they went into a sort of rushed public consultation — the whole process completely backwards,” said Cash. “It really looked to us like that public consultation process was window dressing for a decision they’d already made – a decision that James Moore made while on his motorcycle apparently. This isn’t what the committee heard.”

The museum’s former chief archeologist, Robert McGhee, also slammed the government’s handling of history in an article published this week in the Ottawa Citizen, which insisted Canadians need a better sense of aboriginal history to properly judge the Idle No More protest movement.

“At a time when a historical perspective is so important in trying to understand the relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples, it is more than unfortunate that the current government has chosen to neglect the study and presentation of indigenous history,” McGhee argued.

“Within the past year, 80 per cent of the archeologists employed by Parks Canada — the largest archeological agency in the country — have lost their jobs. The Canadian Museum of Civilization, the lead federal institution engaged in researching and presenting aboriginal history, is being transformed into a Museum of History focusing on the relatively recent political, military and sporting achievements that the current government thinks will make Canadians proud of their past.”